Markus 8:8-13

8:8 Everyone ¹  ate and was satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 8:9 There were about four thousand ²  who ate. ³  Then he dismissed them. ⁴  8:10 Immediately he got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. ⁵ 

The Demand for a Sign

8:11 Then the Pharisees ⁶  came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for ⁷  a sign from heaven ⁸  to test him. 8:12 Sighing deeply in his spirit he said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth, ⁹  no sign will be given to this generation.” 8:13 Then ¹⁰  he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side.

[8:8]  ¹ tn Grk “They.”

[8:9]  ² sn The parallel in Matt 15:32-39 notes that the four thousand were only men, a point not made explicit in Mark.

[8:9]  ³ tn The words “who ate” are not in the Greek text but have been supplied for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁴ sn Mark 8:1-10. Many commentators, on the basis of similarities between this account of the feeding of the multitude (8:1-10) and that in 6:30-44, have argued that there is only one event referred to in both passages. While there are similarities in language and in the response of the disciples, there are also noticeable differences, including the different number present on each occasion (i.e., 5,000 in chap. 6 and 4,000 here). In the final analysis, the fact that Jesus refers to two distinct feedings in 8:18-20 settles the issue; this passage represents another very similar incident to that recorded in 6:30-44.

[8:10]  ⁵ sn The exact location of Dalmanutha is uncertain, but it is somewhere close to the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

[8:11]  ⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[8:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “seeking from him.” The participle ζητοῦντες (zhtountes) shows the means by which the Pharisees argued with Jesus.

[8:11]  ⁸ sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

[8:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[8:13]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.